Al Simmons

5:30 PM

"A tour-de-force of ingenious, charming
silliness." Globe and Mail

Juno Award winner Al Simmons is a creative genius whose charm and humanity have
won over a legion of fans at theaters and festivals around the world. His
highly original performances of profound wackiness and his off-the-wall
inventions take the arts of Music and Comedy to unparalleled heights of
hilarity. —alsimmons.com

"A masterpiece!"-Los Angeles Times

He's a musician! He’s an inventor! He's a nut! He’s
been called the Thomas Edison of entertainers, a wizard of
one-liners and a lightning bolt of lunacy. His astounding gadgets,
preposterous songs, impeccable comic timing and kooky take on classic
vaudeville have thrilled and entertained fans of all ages for 4½
decades. Juno Award winner Al Simmons is a creative genius whose highly
original performances of profound wackiness and of off-the-wall inventions have
taken the arts of Music and Comedy to unparalleled heights of
hilarity. Young or old, you cannot fail to appreciate this man’s frenetic
stage antics and mind-boggling lovableness. —alsimmons.com

Al Simmons’ one-man, multi-prop, music-filled, off the wall
performances have elevated audiences world-wide to collective giggles and
all-out guffaws. At once childlike in its simplicity and sophisticated in its
execution, Al’s humour touches a responsive chord in people of every age.

Artist Biography Click to show

Vaudeville’s half-century run of popularity may have died
back in the 1940's, but don’t try to tell that to Al Simmons or the crowds of
fans that have packed theatres across North America to see him. Into the
tradition of the great comedy kings--Danny Kaye, Spike Jones and Jimmy
Durante--comes Al Simmons, ­ a man dedicated to the all but lost art of
combining comedy with song, dance, magic, and sight-gags. The end result is
plenty of good-natured fun in a one-man variety show.

In the entertainment business since 1970, the popular
Manitoba-based children’s performer is likely Canada’s most versatile
comedian. He puts on a funfest, full of
bizarre gadgets, wild costumes, unique songs, crazy vaudeville-inspired
routines and of course bad puns.

It's as if he was genetically engineered for comedy. From
his distant Romanian and Scottish ancestors Al has inherited a quick wit, lanky
legs, large flipper like feet and a rubber face. His father, a charismatic
magazine salesman and would be performer, spent many hours telling tall tales
and re-enacting old vaudeville routines in their living-room. Al's Mom taught the budding young
vaudevillian the genteel art of punning, silly songs and magic tricks. But the
most important thing that his parents taught him was how to use his talents to
do good and bring happiness to the world without hurting anyone. His extended family was made up of punsters,
pranksters and eccentrics, including Al's Uncle Nick, who toured Eastern Canada
as Steamboat Harris, best known for playing a ukulele made out of a toilet
seat!

Al’s debut album "Something’s Fishy at Camp
Wiganishie" earned a Juno nomination for best Children’s Album. His follow
up recording was a brilliant ode to vaudeville, "Celery Stalks at
Midnight". It won the 1995 Juno Award and the 1996 U.S. Parents’ Choice
Award. "The Truck I Bought From Moe", his third album, garnered a
Juno nomination and a Parents’ Choice Award. He is an author; “Counting
Feathers,” his illustrated children’s book, was short-listed for the
McNally-Robinson Book of the Year in 1997. He received a coveted Cable Ace
Award nomination for his music video "I Collect Rocks," which is also
the title track of his brand new DVD that contains 6 of his wacky music videos
and features his Horse-cycle “Ol’ Spoke”.

Al has won a Juno Award (The Canadian equivalent to a
Grammy), he’s a Member of the Order of Manitoba, the recipient of the Winnipeg
Symphony’s Golden Baton for Artistic Achievement. He was a gold medal winner at
the 2005 World Championship Zuccini Race, and a restaurant in his hometown
named a hotdog after him.

Al and his wife Barbara have been married since 1976 and
live in harmony and pandemonium near the small Manitoba town of Anola. They
have three sons, Karl, Will, and Brad, and four granddaughters, Ashley,
Kaitlin, Marley and Clover. Their home, built around two train cars, is
equipped with a fire-pole that connects an upstairs prop-shop with a main-floor
playroom lined with mattresses and filled with pillows. Their 15-acre yard is
flowered with zip lines, Tarzan ropes, slides and swings.

A Creative Genius with the Soul of a Vaudevillian -Al
Simmons is a one-man cast of thousands! A modern day comedy chameleon! A wizard
of one-liners!